Quezon City councilor Defensor was elected as a
Quezon City councilor from the third district in the 1992 elections at the age of 23, making him the youngest member of that body. He received the Manuel Quezon Bantayog Award for Most Outstanding QC Councilor for the year 1994.
Congressman Defensor ran for congressman of the
third district of
Quezon City against reelectionist
Dennis Roldan in the
1995 election, subsequently winning and becoming the youngest congressman at the time. Though he ran under the party of
Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, he switched to the
Liberal Party in June 1995, a month before the 10th Congress convened. On October 9, 2008, Defensor was named acting chairman of the
Philippine National Railways (PNR).
Senate candidacy Defensor was among the first to file for candidacy for the senate on February 12, 2007. Prior to filing, one of his campaign proposals was to temporarily release deposed former president
Joseph Estrada from his arrest while his
trial at the Sandiganbayan was ongoing, prompting criticism from prosecutors at the trial who called it a "politician's gimmick". He employed popular gossip show host
Boy Abunda as his campaign manager. He was named to the
TEAM Unity coalition backed by the Arroyo administration. However, he lost the race, placing 15th overall out of the 12 seats.
Quezon City mayoral candidacy In
2022, Defensor ran for
Mayor of Quezon City under the
Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP). However, the incumbent Mayor
Joy Belmonte emerged victorious in the election.
Representative for Anakalusugan Denial of the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN Defensor is one of the vocal opponents against the franchise renewal of
ABS-CBN, together with Sagip Party-list Rep.
Rodante Marcoleta and Cavite Seventh District Rep.
Jesus Crispin Remulla. He is one of the 70 congressmen who voted "yes" to "kill" (deny) the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN, in favor of the report from the Technical Working Group. After claiming continuous victory, Defensor inititiated an online forum via
Zoom and streamed live on
Facebook along with Marcoleta, Remulla,
Yedda Romualdez, Journalie Payonan,
Danilo Fernandez,
Jose Antonio Sy-Alvarado,
Inno Dy and Alfred delos Santos to discuss the fate of ABS-CBN. On July 18, 2020, they discussed the potential takeover of the ill-fated network due to alleged tampered
torrens title, fine for the alleged illegal sale of
ABS-CBN TV Plus for almost , and the total closure of
Sky Cable as suggested by Rep.
LRay Villafuerte. Meanwhile, pro-ABS-CBN advocate
Christine Bersola-Babao slammed the forum and called the congresspersons as "evil", and
Senate President Tito Sotto slammed the possible takeover of ABS-CBN by calling the compound as constitutionally protected.
BTS sa Kongreso In January 2021, Defensor is announced to be part of the new bloc "
BTS sa Kongreso" (named after the
K-pop boy band group
BTS of
South Korea), a coalition group formed by
Alan Peter Cayetano of the
House of Representatives of
18th Congress.
Ivermectin pantry In April 2021, Defensor and SAGIP party-list representative
Rodante Marcoleta initiated an "ivermectin pan-three" that distributes the anti-parasitic drug
ivermectin, despite warnings from the World Health Organization on the lack of evidence to support ivermectin's efficacy against COVID-19. ==Controversies==